Nomos 19

SPAIN. Castulo. Early 2nd century BC. Half unit (Bronze, 25 mm, 16.76 g, 12 h). Youthful male head to right, wearing thin head band. Rev. Bull walking to right; above, crescent. SNG BM Spain 1244. A remarkably attractive coin, struck on a very thick flan with beveled edges, with a very dark green patina overlaid with glossy, tan-red earthen deposits. Extremely fine.

From a Swiss collection, ex Gorny & Mosch 207, 15 October 2012, 1 (est. €250, sold for €650.

Occasionally coins change from merely money to being an actual art object: there are many Sicilian silver coins like that. In fact, there are coins like that from all over the Greek world. But, frankly, there are very few Celtiberian coins that can get away with being called an 'art object'. This is the exception that proves the rule! With its immensely thick (4 mm) flan, very dark patina underlying smooth earthen deposits, and with its design peeping through the deposits as if sailing through a fog, this is simply not just a coin anymore. The more you look at it, the more it impresses you. And, yes, that first assumption, that this is a coin that is worth, maybe, CHF 25, really is wrong.